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Jimi Manuwa and Jan Blachowicz run back their 2015 bout at UFC Fight Night 127 on March 17th, 2018 at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Manuwa beat Blachowicz via unanimous decision when they first met at UFC Fight Night 64 in Blachowicz’s home country of Poland. This time around, the pair will square off one more time and it will be Jimi Manuwa’s turn to host Blachowicz in his native United Kingdom.
Manuwa is 17-3 but has split his last six bouts. He is coming off of a July defeat to Volkan Oezdemir and he is hoping to avoid back to back losses for the first time in his MMA career.
Likewise, Blachowicz has won just half of his last eight bouts. Unlike Manuwa, though, he is coming off a December victory over Jared Cannonier.
A Stand Up Battle
Manuwa is the favorite here at -200 while Blachowicz came back as a solid +160 underdog at Bovada. Poster Boy is fighting at home and when he does, his record is an almost perfect 16-1. His only loss in England came against Alexander Gustafsson and that was way back in 2014. But it’s not only because of home court advantage that Manuwa is favored in this bout.
In their first bout, Manuwa won the fight by outlanding Blachowicz 81-58 in total strikes landed. There were no takedowns during that fight and in a stand up battle, Manuwa vs Blachowicz is a no-contest in favor of Jimi Manuwa.
15 of Manuwa’s 20 fights have ended in a knockout so his fighting style is no secret. Manuwa is a striker who has one punch knockout power. As to his ground game, well he only has three takedowns in his UFC career. So for as long as he can keep this fight on his feet, beating Jan Blachowicz again is no problem.
Same Fight, Same Result
Blachowicz is the more balanced fighter between the two but he can’t keep up with Manuwa in the striking game. Manuwa simply has much powerful hands. For Blachowicz to win this fight, he must take Manuwa to the mat and wear him down. If he is able to do that, things can get very interesting.
But since their 2015 bout, nothing much has changed. So if Manuwa was able to avoid getting taken down three years ago, he can do so again in this rematch. And if the fight is relegated to a striking battle, it’s Manuwa who’s going to stand out.
This will be the same fight as before and the result is going to the same too. We’re picking Jimi Manuwa to win this bout by stoppage.
